Bracketology

[Titanxman04]

http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/bracketology

We're left out...not surprised seeing as we're preparing to go into Stealth Mode, sneak up on everyone, and shock the writers...again.

[Emp]

I see this team having a tough time establishing its " book" on an (almost) entirely new set of league opponents, but having the advantage of the learning curve for the league tournament.

My 2013-14 season hope is that we do sneakup damage in MSG in March. Being good enough to avoid the playin round, so we don't have to play 4 games in four days to win the auto bid, would be a good first step. I am also hoping that Mack manages to reverse trends on early exits from the league tourney. Sean Miller was a master of making lemonade out of lemons in the A10 tourney, Can we get some more of that, please?

[Masterofreality]

It's ESPN...where, you know, the Big East is "League non Grata".

[MD Muskie]

Patrick Stevens, who writes and does the tournament predictions for the Washington Post did his 68 team prediction on twitter today and had Xavier as a 12 seed.

[casualfan]

It's ESPN...where, you know, the Big East is "League non Grata".

Every bracketology I have seen has us out. There are plenty of examples of ESPN hating on the conference. This is not one of them.

The good news is the preseason bracketology means dick.

[GoMuskies]

In Spokane, Wichita State would play Pitt and then Gonzaga in the first two rounds according to this bracket. Deja vu, Shockers to the Final Four!

[casualfan]

Not a bracketology per se, but I didn't think this deserved it's own thread.

USA Today has conference power rankings (http://ftw.usatoday.com/2013/11/conference-power-rankings-why-acc-is-by-far-and-away-the-best/) out.

The good news is we are two spots ahead of the A10. The bad news is we are 3 spots behind the AAC.

[throwbackmuskie]

Not a bracketology per se, but I didn't think this deserved it's own thread.

USA Today has conference power rankings (http://ftw.usatoday.com/2013/11/conference-power-rankings-why-acc-is-by-far-and-away-the-best/) out.

The good news is we are two spots ahead of the A10. The bad news is we are 3 spots behind the AAC.

AAC- the 1 year wonder

[gladdenguy]

sUCks fans love this.

[SixFig]

Pretty sure Lunardi just took last year's tournament teams and shuffled them around. FGCU as a 13 seed?

Usually he does a good job but looks like he didn't try this year.

[nuts4xu]

The bad news is we are 3 spots behind the AAC.

I expect this season the Big East will be ranked ahead of the AAC in the coming years. We may even see this change some time in the next few months. The AAC will not be nearly as good without Louisville next season, and the bottom teams of that league are pretty bad (Houston, UCF, SMU and South Florida).

[xubrew]

I think Mercer is better than FGCU, but whatever. A #13 seed for either team doesn't seem too far off the reservation.

I think Xavier is going to be much better than what the status quo seems to think. We've added depth and talent. Xavier also has a tendency to finish better than what people think they will. That includes last year, IMHO. I am bothered somewhat that we're only playing one true out of conference road game. It would help get us ready for hostile environments in conference, and give ourselves some chances to pick up some road wins out of conference in case we struggle to get them in conference.

Other than that, though, I think we'll be in the discussion when it's all over, and maybe even in the field.

[xubrew]

I expect this season the Big East will be ranked ahead of the AAC in the coming years. We may even see this change some time in the next few months. The AAC will not be nearly as good without Louisville next season, and the bottom teams of that league are pretty bad (Houston, UCF, SMU and South Florida).

SMU has a pretty strong recruiting class. I'm not saying that they're a player on the national scene, but they are no longer insignificant.

UCF won 20 games last year and has all five starters back.

South Florida and Houston, well, yeah, they're pretty bad.

[bobbiemcgee]

UCF won 20 games last year and has all five starters back.

Actually they don't. Lost Keith Clanton who led the team in about everything and now plays pro ball in Europe. I think they're in for a tough yr.

[xubrew]

I forgot about him. Isaiah Sykes was probably their best player last year, though, and him and the other three starters are back, as are two of their best bench players that actually started a fair number of games.

You're right about Clanton being a good player for them, but they have a lot coming back. I wouldn't put them in the same category as Houston and South Florida. I'm not saying they're going to take the country by storm, but they don't suck nearly as bad as Houston and South Florida. They're actually half way decent.

[Drew's Crew]

It's ESPN...where, you know, the Big East is "League non Grata".

Ahhhh....MOR....you wake up with a chip n your shoulder. After years of hearing you complain about how overrated the BE is by ESPN I'm assuming now they are underrated because X is in it right?

To be honest, I think it's admirable how you can spin everything into an insult and fuel your fandom that much more.

[vee4xu]

– Truth No. 1: The new Big East, now made up of the Catholic 7 and three other basketball-only schools, won’t be on the same pedestal the old Big East was. When you take Syracuse, Notre Dame and Pittsburgh out of the equation, that leaves Marquette, Georgetown and Villanova as the heavyweights to lead what amounts to a start-up league into a new era.

What in God's name is Notre Dame doing in the conversation about conference dilution along with Syracuse and Pitt. ND stinks. I loved being there in Greensboro with Bourbonman as the clock struck midnight to reach March 17th and X was putting the icing on the cake of an win against ND at the foul line. ND. Really? Puhleeeezzz.